One of the most baffling things to figure out when you are a tourist exploring a new country is how to make phone calls. Sometimes it varies whether or not you are calling a cellphone or a land line.

We are currently in Mexico (Cabo San Lucas) and we have iPhones that have calling service. Our provider is Crickett Wireless, which thankfully does not charge an additional fee for voice calls within Mexico. Our phones also work on Wi-fi for texts and emails, which has been relatively good at our rented condo (the speed is equivalent to the DSL speeds we get in the USA).

When we are out and about, we use the Keepgo device (see our review of the Keepgo soon). That gives us 3G data coverage anywhere in Mexico at a metered rate.

When in Mexico, the phone switches to the AT&T network, (AT&T owns Cricket Wireless), and sometimes, we see "TELCEL" show up instead of AT&T as the network. This happens usually when we are outside a major metropolitan area.

​It was diffiuclt to figure out how to make voice calls to the US (I've called my bank and our office several times). After struggling mightily with this concept, I have created a short guide for you.

Here is a general phone dialing guide for you that should work throughout Mexico, and has worked for us throughout Baja California and all of Cabo:

To Dial Mexican Numbers with your U.S. iPhone:

Local Numbers: Calling a local number in Mexico is easy. To call any local land line, just dial the local number with the area code. You don't have to put any special numbers in front of it. EXAMPLE: for example, when I call the local Costco in Cabo San Lucas (WHILE I am in CABO), from my US iPhone, I dial like this: (See Pics)

See from this example, this is the full Mexican telephone number of the Costco in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

From my U.S. cellphone, while I am in Cabo, this is the number that I dial to get a connection to the local Costco. Include the area code, even though it's "local".

To Dial a U.S. number from your Cellphone while you are in Mexico

U.S. Numbers: Now, let's say you want to dial back to the U.S. with your iPhone while you are inside Mexico. That's easy, too. So, let's say I want to contact my local Wells Fargo Branch, while I am on vacation in Mexico. Here is the full Wells Fargo Number for my local branch, and the second picture shows how I dial to get a connection (see pics).

Here is the public number for Wells Fargo in Sacramento. This is the number I will call in this example.

Using the Wells Fargo number as an example, To dial back to the U.S. while in Mexico, include a "001" before the U.S. area code, and then the area code, and then the number.

I hope this step-by-step dialing guide is useful for you when you are in Mexico, and enjoy your travels!